Davis Cup 2018: Winners, Semi Final Review, and Final in Zagreb

The 2018 Davis Cup is the 105th edition of the tournament that saw two World Wars and numerous legendary champions lift the trophy. Sponsored by BNP Paribas, Davis Cup is played between national teams in men’s tennis and starting from this year, the deciding set of each and every match is settled by a tiebreak at six games – an advantage set is no longer played.

Davis Cup Final

The four Grand Slams may get most of the attention in the world of professional tennis, but the presence of national events in tennis is represented by one major tournament which attempts to unify world tennis stars. The Davis Cup features countries – represented by their star players – taking part in an intense tournament. The Davis Cup 2018 final will be contested between 25-27 November with Argentina and Croatia fighting for the first place.

Historical Champions

The game between Britain and Argentina will take place in Glasgow, while the match between Croatia and France is scheduled at Zadar in Croatia. These four teams have been able to reach this stage of the competition after having overcome intense fights in the quarter-finals, which were held between 15-17 July. Britain are regarded as the overwhelming favourites to end up as the Davis Cup winners largely due to the presence of inform players like Andy Murray. However, the only narrowly beat Serbia in the quarter-finals to set up a tie against Argentina in the Davis Cup semi final. Two teams had an easy passage through the quarter-finals, but Croatia also did not have this luxury after they overcame the United States with a narrow 3-2 win.

Argentina were just about Serbia in terms of seed positions, but they had a relatively easy passage into the semi-finals after overcoming Italy 3-1. The South American team are yet to be crowned as the winners of a Davis Cup final. Despite having appeared in four finals with three of them coming in the last decade, Argentina have not been able to get that final step out of their way. As a sixth seed, they were handed the luck of the draw to face unseeded Italy in the quarter-final.

France have been very keen on improving their recent record in the Davis Cup. However, they were handed one of the toughest draws in the quarter-final after being paired up against the third seed Czech Republic. France would have been hoping for an unseeded opponent at this stage. However, the game was a comfortable 3-1 success for the team and they remain in contention for their Davis Cup winners title since 2001.

Since winning this tournament, France have ended up immensely disappointed following three runners up finishes in 2002, 2010, and 2014. A victory at the Davis Cup 2018 final could go a long way into removing those bad memories.

Date

Champion

Score

Oponent

Round

Venue

16 Sep – 18 Sep 2018

Argentina

3 – 2

Great Britain

Semifinal

Emirates Arena, Glasgow, Great Britain

16 Sep – 18 Sep 2018

Croatia

3 – 2

France

Semifinal

Kresimir Cosic Hall, Zadar, Croatia

15 Jul 2018

Great Britain

3 – 2

Serbia

Quarterfinal

Tasmajdan Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia

15 Jul 2018

Argentina

3 – 1

Italy

Quarterfinal

Circolo Tennis Baratoff, Pesaro, Italy

15 Jul 2018

France

3 – 1

Czech Republic

Quarterfinal

Werk Arena, Trinec, Czech Republic

15 Jul 2018

Croatia

3 – 2

USA

Quarterfinal

Tualatin Hills Tennis Center, Portland, Oregon, USA

04 Mar 2018

Argentina

3 – 2

Poland

1st Round

Ergo Arena, Gdansk, Poland

04 Mar 2018

Great Britain

3 – 1

Japan

1st Round

Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, Great Britain

04 Mar 2018

Croatia

3 – 2

Belgium

1st Round

Country Hall du Sart-Tilman, Liege, Belgium

04 Mar 2018

France

5 – 0

Canada

1st Round

Velodrome Amedee Detraux, Guadeloupe, France

Davis Cup Semi Final

It is quite possible that a new winner in the Davis Cup emerges during the 2018 edition. Argentina are the only team in the Davis Cup semi final not have tasted success in the competition. Even though unseeded Croatia have had a victory under their belt back in 2005. This turned out to be one of the most unlikely victories in the Davis Cup history, but it is a trophy nonetheless. Marin Cilic is the only player in the top 20 to have been called up for representing Croatia at the Davis Cup. Amidst such competition, Argentina will be hoping to come good finally.

France have an illustrious history when it comes to this competition, but it is fast turning out into a disappointing run after they could only manage a runners-up finish in the last three attempts. The last victory for the French team at the Davis Cup was in the 2001 edition. The most recent disappointment came in 2014, but 2018 will see the team a refreshed outfit with a strong name like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga announced in the squad. As a result of having featured in 34 out of the 36 Davis Cup titles, France are fifth in the all-time appearance list.

Great Britain, though, are seen as the biggest favourites to reach the Davis Cup final and even win the tournament. Buoyed by the success at Wimbledon, Andy Murray will be a hard man to get past. At this moment, Great Britain seem stronger – at least on paper – than any other opponent. Even though they are up against sixth seed Argentina in the semi-final, the team are expected to deal with this challenge quite comfortably and reach the final where they will face either France or Croatia. One more advantage comes from the fact that the semi-final is on home soil for Britain.